Great read.

I have read one of this author's memoirs (How to Make a French Family), and loved it. Although Samantha Vérant has written fiction before this, I haven't read any of them, so I was looking forward to a nice change, and the blurb sounded so enticing.

I thought the chapters from different characters' points of view, and the different times worked really well-all clearly marked with who was speaking, and the day/time. I like the presentation of the text message screenshots-more realism. I also liked the music track mentions.

Despite the serious subject, the author occasionally inserted fun phrases and quips; lightened things.

This was so good, and really easy to read and get engrossed in. I had fun puzzling things out; asking myself questions if a particular thing could be a clue to something, or a red herring. A very accomplished yarn, perfectly woven. It's one of those books that once you start reading, you just can't leave alone. Great pace, dialogue, and energy.

A delicious crime thriller, and I absolutely devoured it! For much of the time I was thinking this was a 5 star book, but, for me, the last 40% wasn't quite as good as the previous section.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It is a well-written domestic thriller with plenty of twists, turns and surprises. It's a little far-fetched in places, but a good read. Recommended.

Thank you netgalley and Storm for this arc.

Married to a billionaire with twin girls, the perfect self designed house, leading the perfect happy life.. or were they? Emma lands billionaire surgeon Nathaniel Landon with promises of the perfect happy life floating in her head. She ignores the red flags and advice of her best friend. Now she returns home from a trip to Paris to find her husband floating dead in the koi pond. Detective Rossi instantly sets her focus on Emma, but did she do it and can Rossi prove it?

I enjoyed this book. I don't know that I'd say it's a psychological thriller but it is a good drama mystery for sure. I could see this as a limited series tv show. The dark turn of secrets was not expected. The author does a great job at making the characters out to be slimy pigs. I also instantly hated Rossi and the way she attacked Emma. Even though this is a work of fiction it is a sad truth that these events are happening in the world every day.

Overall 4 stars.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I won't post any potential spoilers. It had me hooked, I would recommend this to others.

Thank you Storm Publishing & Samantha Vèrant for this great read!

This book was way darker than I expected and I binged about 80% of the book in one go. It had alot of unexpected and shocking moments and my eyes couldn't read fast enough.

I loved the multiple timeslines and mixed POVs..I'm a sucker for this layout and the author pulled it off brilliantly.

This book is fast paced and from the very first chapter it doesn't slow down.

If you're looking for a bingeable thriller that is fast paced, twisted, dark and tackles some serious issues- this read is for you!!

Brilliant book that I absolutely loved. Set in two timeframes and goes to prove that money does not guarantee longevity. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

The synopsis had me hooked--and it was compared to some works by a few of my fav authors so I was excited to dive in. Its a fast paced thriller with dual POV's. Emma's husband is so unlikable I'm not surprised she was unhappy with him. The characters were just lacking something nut the plot was great.

I enjoyed reading this book despite not really taking to the character of the wife. However I will admit she grew on me towards the end. The husband was a thoroughly nasty piece of work and I was pleased he was dead from the outset of the book. The variation of characters and timelines also added to the pace which only flagged occasionally. Overall a good read, I would like to give 3.5 stars but obviously can’t so have upgraded to 4 stars.

Gripping from the first to the last, a bit of a rollercoaster, fascinating and enthralling.
Emma is just back from a break in Paris Europe, with her best friend Abi, but when she returns home, the scene of carnage and chaos in her home sets off hysteria and she just can’t think straight.
The book takes us back in time as necessary to fill in the blanks and the details, building the story and the characters.
Well thought out, the writing is paced and keeps us gripped whilst the story plays through.
Enjoyable holiday reading, with enough plot and character for an intriguing and engaging read!
Didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, and actually I was totally pulled in!!
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read early.

4.5 Stars !!! I really enjoyed The Lucky Widow by Samantha Vérant. The quick pace was fantastic - and it just kept going. Never a dull moment - every chapter and POV was perfectly placed to either move the story forward, or give a perfectly timed flash back. Thank you to NetGalley for this early release. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good, contemporary, fast-paced thriller.

This was a clever and twisty read that was thoroughly enjoyable. A butterfly was set free, a monster was slain and a game of wits between detective and murder suspect took place. I was kept engaged as the author carefully laid out the bait for her readers to wade through a wonderful story and come out smiling knowingly at the end. The supporting characters, especially the house staff and Emma’s friend Abby made delightful additions to the story and contrasted well with the horror that was Nate. Thanks to Netgalley and Storm publishing for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

Emma, 38, is an interior architect and is married to Nate Landon, 49, a heart surgeon who is quite wealthy from family money. They are parents to Ava and Grace, 14-year-old twin girls. Emma has finally decided that she can no longer take any more of Nate’s treatment and she wants a divorce.

Emma and her good friend, Abby Hoffman, a fashion designer, have just returned from a short trip to Paris for business. Emma tells Abby that she has received word from the private investigator that she hired, that he found very compromising information on Nate that should enable her to get the divorce that she wants. Emma designed their enormous home and the gardens are her favorite. She loves butterflies and has many plants that are known to attract them.

Abby drives Emma home only to find a terrible mess inside and Nate floating face down in their Koi pond in the back. Both women run into the water and pull him out, but it’s too late. He is dead. When the authorities arrive, one of them is Detective Rossi who has been assigned to the case, She feels that Emma is hiding something and questions her relentlessly.

So much happening here which I guess is a good thing in that it helps to keep the reader’s interest as they plow through this long book. I liked the characters except for the vicious and ugly men involved in their disgusting deeds. I also did not care for Detective Rossi. She overstepped her boundaries in her investigation. There is human trafficking and horrible sexual abuse in this book which is a turnoff. I am on the edge of giving it 3 or 4 stars so in all fairness, I will award this story 4 stars.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am thinking this book is part truth and then part not truth, but loosely based on people we have seen in the public eye. Only Samantha Verant defiantly added twists and quite a few more people to the list as well. I was stuck this book until the end such a terrific book,well written,and she takes you on such a wonderful crazy journey. It so intense and so descriptive.

Emma Novak is studying to be an interior architect when she meets Nate Landon a highly respected cardiothoracic surgeon. After dating for a bit he decides it is time to get married and have a family. He has bought land for their new house that he wants her to design and build. When they came back from their honeymoon she finds out that she is pregnant and she can't is not happy about it. She is pregnant with twin girls and that is when Nate starts to change towards her. Emma has a horrible pregnancy and the people that take care of her through her entire pregnancy are none other than Luisa, Alba, Kom, Homa. This is when Emma became friends with all of them. They were all supposed to be and were before she came servants and not to be spoken to, other than to give orders to.

Fast forward, Abby who is Emma's best friend from college is racing down the highway from JFK to get Emma home.They are coming home from Paris. When they get there Emma goes in and sits down for whatever reason that's as far as she goes. when Abby comes in she asks what is that smell? When they go in the kitchen Emma slips in what she thinks is cat vomit. It is everywhere and it's not cat puck it's human!
This book runs the gambit on sex trafficking, slavery, to orgies and buying and selling people. It has drugging and murder it has pretty much everything in it that you can imagine. It is written with such amazing intelligence and a master in mind games that it was quite brilliant!

Highly recommend this book! happy reading!!

Whew! I feel like a need a shower after reading this book, not because it was dirty per se, but because of the depravity of some of the characters in this story.

When Emma snagged (and I do mean snagged) her husband, Nathaniel, she thought she had won the golden egg in an Easter egg hunt. Nathaniel (Nate) is a highly successful cardiothoracic surgeon and the heir to a billion dollar fortune. She clearly does not know what she has signed up for.

Fast forward 15 years and Emma wishes her husband was dead. She even dreams about ways that he might die. Even though she has thought about it a lot, she never dreamed her fantasies would come true until she arrives home after a trip to Paris to find him dead floating in her fish pond. We all know that the wife is the first suspect, and this is going to be especially true in this case because of the inheritance and life insurance, as well as the comment she makes to the 911 operator. However, there is a whole lot more to this story.

This can probably be classified as a psychological thriller because of the way story plays out, but I consider it a solid mystery. The author takes you back and forth from the past to the present from the time Emma met Nate to the in-between years and the present. The details will shock you. Nate and his friends may have plenty of money, but they are the scum of the earth with their atrocious, disgusting behavior. I liked Emma. She treated everyone equally, even the people who worked for them. She never held herself above others. I did not like, nor did I trust, Nate from the moment he is introduced to the story. Narcissistic does even begin to describe Nate, although I must confess that I never imagined just how vile he was.

This story will grab you by the throat, even as disgusted as you will be by the behavior of some of the characters, and you will not be able to stop reading until you reach the end. The author wraps everything up with a nice, neat and tidy bow. Justice will be served, one way or the other.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It started a little bit slow, but then off it went with a bang.

I've never wanted someone to die more than i did Nate! Emmas relationship resonated with me, some personal similarities, and I felt her pain and desperation to escape. You really feel the emotional anguish of Emma as she tries to get out of an almost impossible situation. A pawn in Nates grand plan, its pretty clear he never loved her.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me, can't recommend it enough.

A different kind of thriller but it gripped me. Im glad they all died!

I enjoyed this; I didn't love it. It was interesting, yes, but I really wasn't surprised about anything that happened, and there were no big twists that I didn't see coming. Emma as a character was interesting in the fact that she wasn't a goody-two-shoes, but her husband and all of his friends had no subtlety at all - they were all slimy and stomach-churning. The writing was accessible and understandable, and the author can certainly tell a story.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being given freely.

This is a exciting read that is so compelling you turn pages to conclusion into the night. I loved the well crafted clues throughout of each character. Each chapter is from a different characters viewpoint. A smart detective, a lying wife and a dead husband leads to one of the most exciting reads of the year. Is the widow in fact lucky or is she a cunnning criminal ? You have to read it for yourself as I will not give spoilers away for such a complex delicious mystery. A fun read I highly recommend,

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and to the author for the opportunity.

I want to thank the publisher and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest opinion. This will be a spoiler free review.

The Lucky Widow is a psychological thriller about a wife named Emma Landon who wishes her husband Nate Landon dead. When he dies she becomes the prime suspect of the investigation.

I really hesitated on my rating because don't get me wrong. This is an amazingly written book with a gripping plot. The first 60% I was so hooked that I couldn't stop reading. Unfortunately the ending just fell the slightest bit flat for me.

I didn't really feel a connection towards the characters. They didn't have that much of a personality other than maybe Emma. They all felt like typical tv show characters. It's way more plot focused and unfortunately the characters lose my interest a bit. I did enjoy we got multiple pov's but mostly Emma's. This gave sight into what she went through and her thoughts. She is also my favourite character.

The story kept me guessing until I neared the end. After 70% I lost interest and started skipping over a few bits. Maybe it was just my mood or focus at that time but the writing style seemed to change. (I'm not sure) The dialogue felt bit more forced at certain parts and felt a bit more awkward.

I also wished there would be more background information about Nate and Emma's relationship. Especially how they met. I think that would make the story much more convincing and would've kept my attention to the book more.

To sum it up a bit. This is an enjoyable fast paced thriller. I do not regret reading this at all and I think that the author will only get better and better with time and practice. Vérant has so much talent and I'm excited to read more books from them.

I would recommend you to check other reviews or try out the book because I definitely had fun reading it.

This book was amazing. I thought it was a simple bad marriage/wanting to escape a rotten husband book but it just kept shocking me left and right. I didn’t expect any of those wild twists. These characters were true evil. An excellent page turner guaranteed to grasp your attention.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION BOOK REVIEW 📚

The Lucky Widow By Samantha Verant
Publication Date: July 5, 2024
Publisher: Storm Publishing

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
(Rounded up to 5⭐)

📚MY REVIEW:

If you're a fan of domestic and psychological thrillers, you have got to put this book on your radar right now! The Lucky Widow was a gripping thriller that grabbed my attention in the first pages and kept its claws in me until the very end.

This book has a little bit of all of my favorite things: multiple POVs, short chapters, differing timelines, seemingly unreliable narrators, betrayals, deceit, revenge, mystery, murders, a strong female MC, and edge-of-your-seat suspense to keep me flipping page after page!

Seriously, the way this book is written is perfectly tantalizing... The story begins with murder, and then each chapter reveals a tiny little piece of the puzzle to foreshadow its twisty conclusion. I was never really 100% certain which way this one was going to end up. I loved the way Verant dropped the mystery's bread crumbs throughout the story... Right up until the book's very end!

This suspenseful read is the perfect unputdownable book for your summer. A fast read, you'll want to read it all in one sitting so you can figure out the whodunnit of this psychological thriller. I'm a big fan of this book, and I highly recommend it!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for gifting me this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review! Cheers to a big publication day tomorrow! 🎉🎉

#TheLuckyWidow #SamanthaVerant #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #greatreads #bookreviews #bookrecs #thrillerlovers #thrilleraddict #domesticthrillers #psychologicalthrillers